On what we hoped wouldn’t be too hot a day, 7 runners including newbie Luke made their way to Chiswick House and Gardens’ kitchen garden ahead of their open day weekend to get it looking neat and tidy. After welcoming Luke, Geraldine the gardener showed us what we would be doing.

Most of us descended like locusts in two patches of weeds that needed clearing for re-planting. In one, a row of lettuces had been overtaken by thistles and grass that Dave, Luke and Georgia took great delight in hoeing away, while Matt and Eloise took charge of another patch.

Meanwhile, Amanda and Natasha wielded heavy hoses and wandered their way around the beautiful garden with all the flowers blooming and fruit and veg ripening to make sure everything had enough to drink in the hot weather, including at one point Eloise who requested a bit of a sprinkle, and unfortunately a sparrow that got a bit dazed after being hit by accident while hiding in the tomato plants!

It’s always a pleasure to go back to Chiswick Gardens and see how past work has been so helpful; we saw that the patch we dug out last year has been turned into a knot garden. Hopefully our work today will also help out the gardeners!